Chrome Extension For Safari

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How to convert Chrome extensions to run in Safari | MacRumors Forums

Chrome Extension For Safari

Apple has now made it easier for developers to convert an existing Chrome/Edge/Firefox extension to a Safari Web Extension. In their release of XCode 12, they have introduced the Safari Web Extension Converter tool which gives you the ability to convert extensions made for other browsers to Safari Web Extensions. With XCode 13, you can even convert the extensions into iOS Safari extensions using the same command. What are iOS extensions? And why are they a big deal? Find out here.

Now without further ado, let’s get started.

Note: This needs XCode 12 or greater and Safari 14 or greater.

We will be working with the “NewTabWallpaper” extension built for Chrome which shows new wallpaper with its location whenever a new tab is opened.

Download or clone the project at, migrating-chrome-extension-to-safari-example.

, Convert Chrome Extension to Safari Web Extension

Let’s convert this extension to a Safari Web Extension.

SELECT THE CORRECT XCODE FOR CONVERSION

Open the terminal in macOS and select the right XCode if you have multiple versions installed.

sudo xcode-select -s <Supported XCode app path>

CONVERT THE EXTENSION

Run the  XCode command-line tool to convert the extension.

xcrun safari-web-extension-converter <path to extension>

This will create a new project for Safari Web Extension and will open the project in Xcode.

RUN THE SAFARI EXTENSION

Build the project through the start button. Make sure the macOS scheme is selected.

, Convert Chrome Extension to Safari Web Extension

It will open a popup like the one below once it’s built and running.

, Convert Chrome Extension to Safari Web Extension
  • Click “Quit and Open Safari Extension Preferences.” This opens Safari Preferences with an extensions list.
  • Tick the checkbox next to the “NewTabWallpaper” extension to enable it. If an extension is not visible in the list, you may want to allow unsigned extensions.
  • Safari Preference > Advances > Check “Show Develop menu in menu bar” then,
  • Menu bar > Develop > Allow Unsigned Extensions. Now, enable the extension from the extensions list.

     Once the extension is enabled, you will get a popup asking for consent.

, Convert Chrome Extension to Safari Web Extension
  • Click “Use for New Windows and Tabs”.
  • Now, open a new tab in Safari Browser and you can see it working.
, Convert Chrome Extension to Safari Web Extension

I used XCode 13 to convert this extension, So you can see it running on iOS Safari too.

, Convert Chrome Extension to Safari Web Extension

ASSESS BROWSER COMPATIBILITY

Once you decide to convert your extension to a Safari extension, here is all you will need to know before migrating.

Moreover, Safari Web Extension has some limitations while working with web extension APIs. It will be wise to assess your extension compatibility with other browsers and vice-versa. Apple has that covered in this article.

VSH Solutions has over a decade of experience developing browser extensions. If you have any questions or queries about building/converting an extension, our dedicated Safari extension and plugin development team will be happy to answer them for you. Just drop us a line at Browser Extension Services.

best safari extensions

Apple Safari, in its bare form, is quite a decent browser in itself. But if you wish to take it a step further and add more functionality to it, then you might consider turning your attention towards extensions.

These are small software programs of a few MBs that could easily be integrated into the browser. In return, they will end up adding some pretty useful features to your browser. It ultimately depends on the domain to which they belong.

Talking about which, there are some which provide a more secure browsing experience whereas others add more to the productivity front. Likewise, some are a boon from the multi-tasking point of view and some even give a new outlook to the overall browser.

Related: 10 Best Browsers for Mac OS (Safari Alternative)

In this regard, Chrome has always occupied the numero uno position when it comes to the support for extensions. However, Apple’s default browser is slowly but surely catching up as well. Keeping that in mind, today we will make you aware of some of the best extensions for the Safari browser on your Mac. So without further ado, let’s get started.

Contents
1Password
Save to Pocket
Ghostery Lite
Translate
Honey
PiPifier
Grammarly
Short Menu
Bottom Line: Best Safari Browser Extensions
1Password
Choosing a strong password for your online accounts has never been an easy job. Fortunately, you could now leave it to 1Password.

Not only does it auto-generate strong passwords, but also saves them to your account so that you could easily access them from all your signed devices.

1Password Safari Extensions for Mac

Apart from that, here are some of the 1Password other noteworthy features that managed to catch our attention:

Be it addresses, usernames, billing details, or passwords, it is able to handle all the different types of data with ease.
This extension will also notify you if your password has been involved in a data breach so that you could change it right away.
Likewise, you could also get a list of all the websites where you have used the same password and hence act upon them accordingly.
There’s a 30-day free trial as well, so you could put it to test for the first month and then mold your purchasing decision accordingly. This trial period becomes all the more important considering their latest version hasn’t gone well with the users (as is evident from its App Store reviews).

1Password

Save to Pocket
While browsing through the web, you might occasionally come across an interesting piece of content. So your first course of action would be to bookmark it for later use.

While it is a viable option but doesn’t fall as the most feasible one, since the bookmark section is already filled up with a plethora of sites. This is where the Save to Pocket extension makes its presence felt.

Save to Pocket Safari Extensions

Be it for blogs, websites, links, or even media files, Pocket will save it under a nearly organized section so that you could access them as and when required.

Moreover, Save to Pocket also boasts of some other impressive features, namely:

You could easily add all your desired content to their respective section with just a single click.
If you sign in to this extension, then its cross-device support will make it much easier for you to access the saved contents across all the supported platforms.
There’s also a Pocket Premium build that unlocks some additional content such as the ability to highlight important texts, unlock exclusive fonts, among others.
With that said, there have been a few compatibility issues of this extension with macOS Big Sur in the past. While it has now seemed to be addressed, users should still keep this point in mind before trying it out.

Save To Pocket

Ghostery Lite
Online privacy is always surrounded by risk and the trackers and intrusive ads only make the matter worse. Not only do they end up disrupting the normal workflow but they possess a huge question mark next to security.

Well, you could now put all these doubts to bed, thanks in large part to Ghostery. This extension comes with an in-built tracker coupled with an ad blocker that is known to block most of the harmful trackers and interfering ads.

Ghostery Lite Safari Mac

One of Ghostery Lite’s most talked-about features is its two profiles setup, namely: Default Protection or Custom Protection.

The first one is the preset settings for those sets of users who don’t wish to tweak the privacy settings.
However, if you want a more granular control, then you should consider going for the Custom option and enable/disable the trackers accordingly.
Moreover, it also comes with a whitelist section, where you could add all your preferred sites.
On the flip side though, its features are still somewhat limited, as compared with Ghostery’s full version (which is only available on iPhone and iPad).

Ghostery Lite

Translate
One feature that I loved about Chrome is its automatic webpage translation capability. And now, you could bring the same over to the Safari browser as well.

Using the Translate extension, you could now translate any web page or even a specific portion of that page to the desired language of your choice.

Translate Extension for Safari

But there are already a plethora of translators available, what makes Translate unique? Well, let’s check it out:

You could view the original untranslated version with just a single click.
Furthermore, its functionality isn’t just limited to sites, it works quite decently in email, forms, and documents as well.
Talking about documents, it could even translate an entire PDF file as well.
Another pretty useful feature that it beholds is its ability to read the translated pages, which proved to be a differentiating factor for its entry to this list.
And with support for over 100 languages, we couldn’t have asked for more.
While it has such a long list of perks, you will have to shell out close to $5 to try them out. But the fact that it is powered by Google Translator which is free and just a tab switch away, some users might feel a little bit hard done by.

Download Translate

Honey
When it comes to online shopping, there are always some coupons and offers to do the rounds. However, it becomes an extremely tough job for the users to keep a track of all of them.

Likewise, comparing them and then finding the best one is a mammoth task in itself. Well, you could now let Honey carry out all these manual efforts on your behalf.

Honey Online Saving Extension for Mac Safari

Some domains where Honey managed to make Honey dominance felt include:

Its ability to scan for all the available coupons across 30,000+ sites, verify if they are active or expired, and then automatically apply them to your billing page.
If you prefer shopping on Amazon, it will compare all the sellers and make you aware of the best ones, keeping in mind their reviews, prices, and delivery schedule.
On top of all this, Honey itself runs promotions from time to time, which in turn offers you more goodies.
However, some users have had complaints that since it runs continuously alongside the browser, it ends up consuming a larger amount of system resources. In some instances, Safari is even forced to switch to High-Performance GPU mode, thereby leading to battery drainage. So the best, in this case, is to disable this extension when you aren’t browsing the online stores.

Download Honey

PiPifier
If you are among those set of users who likes to multitask, then you might very well be aware of the difficulties involved in switching between your multimedia and workspace tabs. Well, what if you could do both at the same time?

Turns out that is very much a possibility. Using the PiPifier extension, you could create a picture in picture mode for any of your preferred videos. This will make that window appear as an overhead on your current tab.

PiPifier Extensions for Safari Mac

That is just one of the many benefits that it has in store. Some of PiPifier’s other major ones include:

The ability to drag and drop the PiP screen to anywhere on the screen (which occupies the bottom right corner of your screen by default).
Talking about its support list, any video that uses the HTML 5 engine falls under its radar, which is near about every major streaming site, more so after the depreciation of the Adobe Flash Player.
Do keep in mind that to make this extension work with any video, you will have to interact with that content at least once. So this extra effort might persuade the users to look out for alternatives.

Download PiPifier

Grammarly
To err is to humans, but not if you have added the Grammarly extension! Be it for fixing spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, incorrect wording, or usage of unnecessary and redundant words, it will warn you of all such errors and at the same time present you with its related fixes as well.

Likewise, it also comes with auto-correction, which could fix all writing issues on the go. Whether it is for Google Docs, Gmail, or WordPress, it takes care of all the popular writing platforms.

Grammarly Extension for Apple Safari

Apart from that, Grammarly has also neatly integrated some other nifty features, such as:

The tone detector functionality, which will make you aware of how your passage sounds to the end-user.
Moreover, you will also be notified of your overall writing score out of 100 and what steps could you take to improve it, if needed.
Be it for Correctness, Clarity, Engagement, or Delivery, it has managed to checkmark all the required prerequisites.
It also has its inbuilt dictionary where you could add your preferred words (such as some Proper Nouns) and customize your writing style as per your needs.
However, it is still in the beta phase for most of the G Suite apps. Hence you might face a few issues such as its inability to check the entire content at one go. Furthermore, if you are looking to explore the full benefits out of this extension, you would have to consider switching over to its Premium version.

Download Grammarly

Short Menu
Who likes long URLs, well frankly no one! Not only do they tend to look complicated but they are quite difficult to understand from the user’s perspective as well. Likewise, they also tend to occupy a major portion of the chat screen.

While it may not matter much in informal conversations, when it comes to the professional front, it is enough to leave a bad impression in some instances. If you echo these thoughts as well, then you might consider giving the Short Menu a chance.

Short Menu Safari Extensions

There are quite a few reasons through which we could justify our above statement. The best way to do so is to make you aware of Short Menu offerings:

Incorporating all the major URL shorteners such as bit.ly, Rebrandly, Hive, tiny.cc, cutting short the URL is now just a click away.
Then if you give it access to your Mac’s clipboard, it will be able to shorten all the URLs that you have copied or tend to do so.
Likewise, you could also sync its usage history to your iCloud and access all the shortened URLs from any of your Apple devices.
However, this extension comes at a price and considering that there are free online alternatives available, the decision is up for debate.

Get Short Menu

Bottom Line: Best Safari Browser Extensions
So with this, we round off the list of some of the best Safari extensions for your Mac. We have mentioned eight different types of extensions, each from a different domain. As per my personal preference, Save to Pocket, Translate and Grammarly is absolute necessity.

Then when it comes to jotting down important points from a live launch event, I open YouTube via the PiPifier, bring it to one corner of my Docs page, and then transcribe the needed information with ease.

Related: 7+ Best Chrome Extensions for Students [Updated]

With that said, do let us know in the comments which of the aforementioned extensions you have decided to give it a try or are actually using as of now.

Conclusion

Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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